Repair Cafe draws crowd

On the heels of the first event in June, a second repair cafe in the Town of Monroe was held on Saturday, Dec. 6 at Town Hall - and it was a great success. Sixty-five visitors, most of whom were local or nearby residents, came in with items to repair and virtually all left with their items mended.

Repair Cafes are held by many local towns with the primary purpose of fixing items that otherwise may be discarded and end up in landfills, or to repair some treasured heirlooms that otherwise could not be fixed. The Monroe Repair Cafe was staffed with a team of volunteers whose knowledge and expertise enabled them to fix a wide range of electrical and mechanical items including lamps and mixers as well as bicycles, jewelry, woodworking, gluing and sewing repairs and computers and laptops.

First-time Repair Cafe volunteer Michael Fradianni, who is a lighting technician for movie sets by day, said he spent much of the afternoon fixing electrical and mechanical items that residents brought in - including a broken lamp with lots of parts.

”I’d love to do this again,” he said.

The Monroe Conservation Commission also had a table with many books and handouts about preservation, plants and animals, wildlife friendly gardening, and advice and information from friendly members. Nearby, the Monroe YMCA’s table was lined with information about their excellent fitness facilities and amenities. The event had one sponsor, Becks Hardware in Monroe, who supplied glues and some lamp parts.

For Ken Winterling, a retired telecom analyst, the Monroe event was the ninth repair cafe he’d volunteered for over across Orange, Sullivan and Ulster Counties in recent months. Volunteering at the cafes since 2019, he said he really enjoys helping people and the challenge of doing the repairs.

”I’ve always had fun fixing things,” he said. “Plus, I’m giving something back to the community. I’m giving time.”

The event was organized by the Monroe Conservation Commission and supported by the Town Board and enthusiastic local residents. The Conservation Commission plans to host two repair cafes next year. The dates haven’t been scheduled yet, but they will probably be held during May/June and again in November.

Other nearby towns organize repair cafes, some two or more every year. The next area Repair Cafes are scheduled for Middletown on Dec. 20 and Warwick on Jan. 17. For information about repair cafes, what they offer, and a calendar of upcoming cafes, log onto to repaircafehv.org.

All the repair cafes in the Hudson Valley area are organized under the umbrella organization “Repair Cafe Hudson Valley.“

Interested in helping or supporting the next Monroe Repair Cafe? Email mcc@townormonroeny.gov.